A `politics of hope` is essential

Three years after President Kim Dae-Jung took office, many people argue that there is little hope for the nation`s political future. Day by day, hostile rivalries and divisions among the people are deepening, as citizens are unable to combine their strengths through reconciliation and integration. Thus, many believe there is little hope for a better tomorrow. This phenomenon amounts to a crisis for the incumbent government. President Kim`s public approval rating has dropped by half, though he enjoyed high popularity when he marked the first anniversary of his inauguration.

The salient question now is how to gauge the essence of the crisis and work out measures to cope with it. In a dinner meeting Monday marking the third anniversary of his inauguration, the president admitted that he had failed to achieve political stability during his first three years in office. He stressed that political stability was the key element to overcoming the nation`s current difficulties. What he meant is that a strong government and strong ruling party are the best means to bring about political stability.

However, we are of the view that it would be a great mistake for the ruling camp to cling to its belief that securing a majority of parliamentary seats through the restoration of its coalition partnership with the United Liberal Democrats and policy alliance with the Democratic People`s Party is the best way to stabilize the political sphere and overcome the nation`s current difficulties. As we often pointed out, the most appropriate means of attaining political stability is to recognize the outcome of the parliamentary elections, in which the opposition Grand National Party emerged as the largest party and the ruling Millennium Democratic Party as a minority party. Based on this recognition, the ruling camp should have run the state through dialogue and compromise with the opposition. Before the ruling camp accuses the opposition party of adopting an uncompromising posture, the governing party ought to assess whether it did its best to promote what it described as a politics of mutual survival or coexistence.

If the ruling camp pushes ahead with plans to achieve stability by means of obtaining a majority floor force, it is bound to fail. Members of the ruling MDP should pay heed to fellow party member Rep. Chough Soon-Hyung, who said at a general caucus of party lawmakers on Wednesday that a ``strong`` ruling party meant that it should not flex its muscles against the opposition party, the mass media and the general public, but should rather rectify any mistakes committed by the administration and lead the government in the right direction.

It is worrisome at this juncture that the Kim government seems to be concentrating its efforts on retaining power even after the next presidential election. It is speculated that the ruling camp will attempt to use the upcoming visit to Seoul by North Korean Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-Il as the momentum for undertaking an overall political realignment, the ultimate goal being to maintain its grip on power.

Meanwhile, the government has all but broken its public promise to promptly complete structural reforms in the financial, corporate, public and labor sectors. The number of the jobless people now exceeds one million and the gap between rich and poor has only widened. In order to gain public support for further restructuring and successfully ride out the ongoing economic downturn, they government must inspire and reassure the people that the future is bright. Attempts to assure a presidential election victory and thus retain power should be of secondary concern to this effort.